Thread: Honing pressure ?

I use my index finger just on the toe of the blade, I use the same or less pressure as the other hand and use no pressure on the finishing hone, just for stability and guiding purposes only. It works well for me

I hone with two hands - always have, always will - I just feel like I have more control over the pressure at the heel and the tip of the edge. My left hand (the hand at the tip) acts mainly as a guide and only comes into play when I'm doing rolling strokes.

I also happen to love the HHT - I believe once you understand the test and have standardized it for the hair you're using to test with it's very useful for judging sharpness - but only sharpness. How does the hair cut, how does it feel when it cuts, what kind of sound does it make, how far out will the blade catch and cut a hair held at the root end, how fine of a hair will the blade catch and cut, is the result the same along the whole edge etc etc. The shave test is always the final word but I like to know "how" sharp my edge is before I shave with it and that's where the HHT comes in.

No professionally honed razor I've ever received has been able to tree top my arm hair so I know if I've honed a razor and it will tree top my arm hair it's about as sharp as it's going to get. I go for both smoothness and as sharp as possible - that's what works best for MY face hair.

I also think there is a big disconnect between newbies and stropping. Stropping is magical. I often spend a half an hour stropping a newly honed razor to get it to the point I want it at. I don't count strokes except on the canvas. I strop on the leather (English bridal) concentrating on the heel, mid blade and toe for as long as it takes to get the HHT results I want to see. Then I shave and I'm never disappointed. I'd rather know what I'm shaving with then have a bad experience ripping up my face with a suboptimal edge. I'm at the point in my honing now that I know that all is needed is a good stropping to get a newly honed blade to my expectations - that took a year of honing daily, constantly experimenting, looking at my edges under my microscope etc. Now I'm addicted to my new Zulu Grey... I'm used to the ridiculous speed of a Shapton - the ZG takes some time to milk it's potential... and now I have a rare gnat on the way - can't wait!

-john

After the bevel set, I try not to use the words "honing" and "pressure" in the same sentence.

I get some very nice shaves employing this idea.

No two razors are exactly alike. True with all cutting tools, matters not if you're sharpening by machine or by hand. All tools must be approached individually.

Are you honing all the way to the edge on the 1K? Marker ink will tell you if you are, Dollars to Doughnuts, you are not.

If you see that ink is not removed at spots, the blade may be warped. Look at the opposite side at the same location and see what is happening on the reverse side.

Some finger pressure may assist in making contact as will Gymnastics talked about. First, figure out what is happening, then why, then how to resolve the problem.

If you are not honing to the edge, nothing else matters, it can never get sharp.